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The Pulse: Public transit tops priority list

One-quarter of residents polled in January identified public transit as their top election concern.

Transit appears to be the No. 1 issue on the minds of voters in this fall's municipal election. “The fares keep going higher but the service keeps getting worse,” said one person polled.
(Keith Beaty / Toronto Star File Photo)

It may still be early days in the municipal election campaign, but one thing is already abundantly clear: Public transit is a key issue in this year’s race.

Since the battle for votes kicked off on Jan. 1, the Star has been asking residents across the city to identify the No. 1 issue they want addressed. Our weekly poll will continue until the October election, and results will be mapped in the paper and on thestar.com.

So far, we have heard from people walking their dogs in Rosedale, at a resource centre in Flemingdon Park and in busy shopping centres in North York, East York, Etobicoke and Eglinton-Lawrence.

There is consensus: Of the 125 residents we have polled across seven wards, 32 — more than a quarter — identified public transit as their top priority.

Monica Sousa, who spoke to us at Lawrence Square Shopping Centre, said, “The fares keep going higher but the service keeps getting worse.”

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Meanwhile, in Rosedale’s Chorley Park, Jean Anderson expressed frustration with the indecision at city hall.

“The have to land on a plan and execute,” she said. “The longer you delay it, the worse it gets.”

Mayor Rob Ford’s misbehaviour was the next most common response, with 15 residents (12 per cent) citing the ongoing crack cocaine scandal and other misgivings about the chief magistrate’s personal issues as their key concern.

“He lied over and over again,” said Abu Sawar, a health store manager in East York. “If he can lie about (drug use), then he can lie about other things we don’t know.”

Property taxes and infrastructure were also popular choices, named by 10 and 8 per cent of respondents respectively.

In the aftermath of the ice storm, which plunged large swatches of the city into darkness for days, emergency management planning was identified as another important issue, tied with unemployment for fifth position, with 7 per cent of the vote.

Our poll resumes this weekend, when the Star returns to the urban core to take the pulse of residents in Parkdale-High Park (Ward 14) and Davenport (Ward 18).

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